Monkfish, as any fisherman will tell you, are not pretty. A member of the angler fish family, they grow to around three feet in length. Of that length, three-quarters is the animal's head. Nearly all of the head is composed of the mouth. Monkfish have very, very impressive mouths lined with fierce-looking teeth on a set of gaping jaws. The monkfish's method of getting food is to use a long filament growing at the front of its head tipped with a lump of flesh called an esca as a lure to draw in prey.

Monkfish live throughout the Gulf of Maine and along the Eastern Seaboard on sandy, coarse bottom. A monkfish will spend most of its waking time nestled into the seafloor partially covered with sediment in order to more successfully ambush its prey. Scientists have discovered that as soon as something, anything, brushes against the animal's esca, the enormous mouth snaps shut, swallowing whole whatever was nearby. The animals are opportunistic eaters, chomping on other fish, crustaceans, mollusks, seabirds and diving ducks.

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